Where the swing keeps its energy

Science · Forces & Motion · ages 17-18

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which device aims for critical damping?
- A car suspension
- A playground swing
- A tuning fork
In an ideal oscillation, where is all the energy when the mass pauses at an extreme?
- All potential
- All kinetic
- Shared equally
Resonance is a large response when the driving frequency matches the natural frequency. True or false?
Circle one: True False
A door closer must never slam or overshoot. Which regime fits it?
- Critical
- Heavy
- Light
What shape is kinetic energy plotted against displacement?
- An upright parabola
- A flat line
- An upside down parabola peaking at the centre
What does heavier damping do to the resonance peak?
- It grows taller and narrower
- It moves to zero frequency
- It lowers and widens
Why do shock absorbers use strong damping?
- To stop resonance ever building up
- To sharpen radio tuning
- To save fuel
A displaced system overshoots twice with shrinking swings, then settles. Which regime is it in?
- Heavy
- Light
- Critical

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

A car suspension · Car suspensions must settle quickly without swinging past rest.
All potential · At the extremes the mass is still, so all energy sits in the spring.
True · Pushing at the natural rhythm feeds energy in fastest.
Heavy · Heavy damping creeps back with no oscillation at all.
An upside down parabola peaking at the centre · Motion is fastest at the centre and zero at the edges.
It lowers and widens · Losses cap the build-up and spread response over more frequencies.
To stop resonance ever building up · Strong damping keeps road bumps from pumping the car into resonance.
Light · Repeated shrinking oscillation is the light damping signature.